c. 1998 Religion News Service

HARARE, Zimbabwe _ After opening ceremonies dramatically demonstrating the diversity of world Christianity, the World Council of Churches’ Eighth Assembly this week began the serious debate of what form the ecumenical movement will take in the next century _ and how the WCC will have to change to accommodate that form.

Beset by internal strife, but seeking a way to make ecumenical dialogue and conversation even broader than that encompassed by its 339 member churches, the 1,000 delegates meeting here are wrestling with three proposals to radically alter the structure of the Geneva-based organization formed largely by white Western males out of the ashes of World War II.

The new structure, supporters _ including the Rev. Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the WCC _ argue will be better able to meet a global situation where Christianity is flourishing in Africa and Asia even as it becomes increasingly besieged in Europe and North America.

The three proposals, which form the heart of a statement called”Toward A Common Understanding and Vision of the WCC,”call for the formation of a new ecumenical”forum”to include faith groups not currently in the WCC, such as the Roman Catholic Church and Pentecostal denominations; the incorporation of decision-making by consensus and constitutional changes in electing officers aimed at putting an end to regional and denominational partisanship.

The Rev. Hilarion Alfeyev, leader of the scaled-back Russian Orthodox Church delegation attending the assembly, told the conference that two Orthodox bodies _ the Georgian and Bulgarian churches _ had already left.”If the structure of the WCC is not radically changed, other Orthodox churches will also leave the WCC,”he said.

Alfeyev denied his remarks were meant as”blackmail,”but he said they were rather”a cry of pain.” The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest member denomination in the WCC and Moscow church leaders are under pressure from some elements in the church to leave the WCC. Orthodox bodies generally are unhappy with the liberal Protestant ethos they believe dominates WCC decision-making processes.

The proposals to use consensus in decision-making and to change the venue of selecting officers from the assembly to the organization’s central committee are meant in part to reduce the Orthodox churches’ sense of alienation.

Raiser said the proposal for a formal forum is intended”to make people talk to each other who at present don’t talk to each other … its ambition is not to reach decision but to open dialogue.” At least one Roman Catholic observer at the assembly responded positively to the proposal in the Common Understanding and Vision document for establishment of a”forum”that would include Roman Catholics and other non-WCC member churches.

The Rev. Thomas Stransky told reporters Tuesday that,”I do not rule out”that some form of future restructuring could meet the objections the Catholic church has to membership.

He noted that on the local level, the Roman Catholic Church is already a member of 56 national councils of churches _ but not of the National Council of Churches in the United States.

In a separate development Tuesday, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addressed a plenary session of the assembly but did not bring up the volatile issue of homosexuality.

Mugabe is an outspoken opponent of homosexuality and some feared he would use the speech to attack churches sympathetic to gay causes.

Although the issue is not on the formal agenda of the assembly, a number of delegates have expressed the fear that it could erupt and divide the council.

And while Mugabe did not mention the issue in his speech, which centered on thanking the churches for their support in the African liberation struggles of the 1970s _ including that which created Zimbabwe _ the issue did come up in a brief encounter with journalists as he left the meeting.

In those remarks, Mugabe called gays”diseased”and said the churches should”purge”gay people of their homosexuality.

Mugabe’s remarks circulated quickly traveled through the assembly, attended by some 4,000 people in addition to the 1,000 delegates. Homosexuality _ and the churches’ responses to it _ is one of the most divisive issues facing the conference.

Later Tuesday at a press conference, Raiser declined to comment, saying”President Mugabe is in his own country and can say what he thinks he needs to say.”

DEA END ROBERTS